Knowledge Base

Jun

Cultured beverage · Traditional · peer-reviewed

Kombucha's honey-fed cousin — green tea and raw honey fermented by a SCOBY into a lighter, faster, champagne-like tart drink.

Moderate to make
5–10 days ferment
live-cultures, organic-acids, antioxidants supplied

Ingredients

  • Water1 L
  • Green tea6 g
  • Raw honey70 g
  • Jun SCOBY + mature starter liquid150 ml

How to make it

  1. Step 1

    Brew green tea and cool fully to room temperature — heat destroys honey enzymes and the culture.

  2. Step 2

    Stir in raw honey until dissolved, then add the SCOBY and at least 10% mature starter liquid.

  3. Step 3

    Cover with tight-woven cloth so it breathes but keeps insects out.

  4. Step 4

    Ferment 5–10 days at 20–26 °C, out of direct sun — Jun usually finishes faster than kombucha.

  5. Step 5

    Taste from day 5. Ready when lightly tart with a soft honey finish.

  6. Step 6

    Bottle (optionally with fruit for fizz), refrigerate, and reserve SCOBY + liquid for the next brew.

What it is

Jun is a SCOBY ferment of green tea and raw honey — often described as kombucha's lighter, faster cousin. The same style of symbiotic culture (yeasts plus acetic-acid bacteria, with a cellulose pellicle) turns sweet tea into a tart, gently sparkling drink, but honey replaces refined sugar and green tea replaces the usual black-tea base. Many makers find it finishes in under a week and tastes softer and more floral than classic kombucha.

The science

Like kombucha, Jun is a yeast–acetic-acid bacteria partnership. Yeasts hydrolyse honey sugars and produce ethanol and CO₂; acetic-acid bacteria (Komagataeibacter / Acetobacter and kin) oxidise that ethanol to organic acids and weave the pellicle. Honey's sugar profile (mainly fructose and glucose, plus minor oligosaccharides) and green tea's polyphenols shift the metabolite mix relative to sucrose–black-tea kombucha, which is why Jun often tastes milder and ferments on a shorter timeline (Villarreal-Soto et al., 2018 — same SCOBY ecology; honey substrate changes kinetics).

Always cool the tea before adding honey and culture: heat damages both.

Safety

Pitch at least 10% mature, acidic starter liquid so the brew starts protective and acidic. Ferment in glass; never reactive metal. Use raw honey only after the liquid is cool. Discard if fuzzy coloured mould appears on the pellicle. As with kombucha, expect a small amount of alcohol.

Signs it worked / troubleshooting

  • ✅ Good: new pale pellicle, liquid clears and sours, soft honey-tart aroma.
  • ⚠️ Stays sweet too long = cool room or weak starter → hold nearer 24 °C, use more mature liquid.
  • 🚫 Fuzzy coloured mould = contamination → discard SCOBY and liquid.

How to store

Bottle and refrigerate. Keep spare SCOBYs in a jar of mature Jun between brews (a "hotel"), as with kombucha.

References

  • Villarreal-Soto SA, Beaufort S, Bouajila J, Souchard JP, Taillandier P (2018). Understanding Kombucha Tea Fermentation: A Review. Journal of Food Science 83(3):580–588. doi:10.1111/1750-3841.14068
  • Jayabalan R, Malbaša RV, Lončar ES, Vitas JS, Sathishkumar M (2014). A Review on Kombucha Tea — Microbiology, Composition, Fermentation, Beneficial Effects, Toxicity, and Tea Fungus. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 13(4):538–550. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12073
  • Marsh AJ, O'Sullivan O, Hill C, Ross RP, Cotter PD (2014). Sequence-based analysis of the bacterial and fungal compositions of multiple kombucha (tea fungus) samples. Food Microbiology 38:171–178. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2013.09.003

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